Fall Festivities

What would the fall season be without a trip to Gardner Village to see the witches? My kids love to go, and this year Chris joined us for the first time. He'd never been to Gardner Village before, and after having been decided that it's just a place for women to spend money. However, the kids and I enjoyed seeing the witches--Talia remembered from last year the one that looks like she splattered into the side of the mill, and was very excited to see that witch again. We went on a hay ride and listened to the witch tell stories, and ate soup and bread from the bakery. Thanks to Jay and Melissa for letting us tag along with them!

Another annual tradition is our pumpkin-carving evening. This year was a little hectic, because we did it on the night Chris got home from fishing in Montana, which made the evening last pretty late. Robbie carved AF in his pumpkin for his AF football team, and Sarah and Talia came up with their own faces for their pumpkins. Great fun!

Halloween

Halloween this year was great--the kids were old enough that there was really no whining during trick-or-treating, and that's a first! Robbie went with his friends, and they were much faster than us girls were. There is a gated subdivision next to us where a lot of people hand out full-sized candy bars, and Robbie and his friends devised a plan to hit that neighborhood twice. They went once, came home and changed costumes, and then went out again--pretty sneaky! They were able to hit all the homes twice in less time than it took Talia, Sarah and I to do one round. After we got home, we separated all the candy and put all the peanut stuff up and let the kids go to town. There's still plenty of candy left, but they're working on depleting it as fast as they can! Rob's first costume--the second time around he went as a football player.

Annual Shippen Halloween Party

The annual Shippen Halloween bash is becoming a highlight of the year, and this year was no exception! The evening began at 6 pm, when the first family members showed up. Over the next 45 minutes, everyone trickled in. The best part of the whole evening is watching everyone come in the door in their costumes! The winners this year were once again Jay and Melissa, who showed up as John McCain and Sarah Palin. After taking lots of pictures, we sat down to white chicken chili and cornbread. Then it was down to the basement for games for the kids--bean bag toss, pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin, and a pinata. Thanks so much to Meghan, Ashley, and Melissa for doing the games! You guys are great! I think next year we should have two pinatas--one for the older kids and one for the younger kids, seeing as the older ones didn't get a chance to hit it because the younger ones broke it open! After the games, we headed back upstairs to decorate pumpkins and have the doughnut-eating contests. My kids look forward to the doughnut-eating all year. I think the adults have more fun watching than the kids do eating their doughnuts! Colton ate his doughnut the fastest, while the younger kids took their time and enjoyed them. The adult contest followed, with Brian beating Adam out this year. Then somebody came up with the crazy idea for a doughnut-eating-can-of-coke-drinking contest. I missed that one, as I was dealing with a blown-out diaper in Cody's room, but judging from the shouts coming from the kitchen, it was quite a sight! Thanks to everyone who came and helped out! I'm already thinking about what to be next year!

Our decorated pumpkins--hats off to Family Fun magazine, where I got the idea from. The kids cut out eyes, noses, and mouths from magazines and glued them on--easy, and most importantly, NO MESS!

The guys competing for title of Fastest Doughnut Eater.

Sarah gets the last of her dougnut in her mouth.


Robbie chowing on his doughnut--they can't touch them with their hands, so it can get pretty tricky!

Talia preparing to hit the pinata.

All the Shippen family men!

Me and my girls!

Our family--Chris as the Shippen Biggest Loser weight-loss contest winner, Allison as Sacagawea, Sarah as a witch, Robbie as a football player, Talia as sleeping beauty, and Cody as Sacagawea's Indian baby.

Cody's blessing

Okay, so I've slacked off big-time on the blogging, and am now attempting to catch up! These are a few pictures from Cody's blessing, which was Oct 12. It was a great day, and it was so nice to have most of our families there to share it with us. Cody behaved like a champ, and slept most of the day (of course!).

Can anyone tell that Sarah was NOT excited about having her picture taken?!

We are so glad this little guy was sent to our family--he's a great baby, sleeps a lot, doesn't fuss too much, smiles at everyone (but the most at Chris), loves looking at bright patterns, loves being held by his mom--we love him to pieces!